THE STORY OF THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Here’s the thing. We were debating even going. It was at the kids’ bedtime, Sam didn’t eat a good dinner at all, he was fussy, and fear crept in.

Then I prayed about it. I asked God what to do. With autism especially, it’s really hard to know what will be a good experience and what won’t. Sometimes one little thing can throw everything off. And that can make it all go downhill and turn an experience rotten, and make it so that you never want to do anything ever again. I’ve been there. But. I prayed, I asked God if we should go, and I got a little push saying, “Go.” But I still was unsure and felt that same feeling from Zack, and ultimately let it be up to him. Zack said yes, let’s give it a try. So off we went. We got in the car, brought some snacks and drove to our friends house to walk around in the dark and look at Christmas lights.

And guess what. Sam LOVED it! He had a sweet huge grin on his face the entire time!! It was amazing! Literally the best thing we’ve done all season! Maybe all year!

Sophie was less than impressed lol, but hey. We’ll take it. ;)

So here’s my take-away: don’t let fear win. But also, remember that not every experience will be a good one. Especially not this good! ;) But gosh, imagine if we hadn’t tried at all? We would have missed out on his pure joy! We wouldn’t have known how happy this would make him!! I’m proud of us, for giving it a try and going in with the right mindset that we could leave at any time and it’d be fine. To not push anything. To have realistic expectations (in this case, none). And it was so great!!! One of those nights we’ll talk about years from now, I just know.

Here’s to trying new things, here’s to jumping out of our comfort zones. And here’s to not letting fear win, and listening to that still soft voice of God.

Such a great message! I find this constantly happening being a mommy of an almost 2 year old. I spend so much time thinking of the what-ifs and usually, things go ok!! Totally worth giving it a go. My next feat is flying for the first time with the bub from Chicago to LA to meet Daddy there on a work trip and spend a weekend at Disneyland. Flying alone with him is terrifying, but with enough snacks and ipad games, I can do it, right?!